Fishing for Compliments
by mycarlydotcom
Summary: Sam visits Freddie for the weekend at University, and she finds an interesting little keepsake of his while exploring his dorm room. 'This is my reason.'


**_Fishing for Compliments:_**

**_Synopsis: _**Sam visits Freddie for the weekend at University, and she finds an interesting little keepsake of his while exploring his dorm room. '_This is my reason.'_

**_Setting: _**On the campus of the University Freddie attends. Taking place a few weeks after my most recent story, **_Handing Out L's_**, and continuing on the timeline I initially constructed in **_Funny Business. _**I urge you to read those first (if you haven't already) to properly immerse yourself in this timeline.

**_General Notes: _**As already mentioned above, this is the next piece in the timeline I created with my most recent stories. Just a brief check in on our young couple as they continue to navigate adult life together. I have a much larger installment of this timeline currently in the works that will be Holiday themed. The plan is to have it out before Christmas, so stay tuned. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated, and thank you so much to anyone who reads.

**_Chapter I: "Fishing for Compliments"_**

"_Cuddlefish huh?" _one of the University students commented to Sam as she strolled through the residence hall, attempting to strike up conversation with the blonde beauty. "_I love that band."_ She was wearing an old Cuddlefish t-shirt Carly had given her as a keepsake, her old pals' favorite band, underneath a grey zip down hoodie.

Completely uninterested in this total '_dude-bro' _that was clearly attempting to hit on her, she simply acknowledged his comment with a less than enthusiastic eyebrow raise as she walked passed him.

"_I saw them at The Hawthorne last summer," _the student continued. "_They were so sick!" _He slowly trailed behind her.

"_That's great," _Sam replied, once again unenthusiastically, as she continued on her trek down the hall.

"_What's the matter?" _this persistent student asked her, in a tone that made it clear he was offended by Sam's less than tepid demeanor. "_Can't be bothered to be nice to people?"_

"_I don't know you," _Sam commented, not even bothering to look at the guy.

"_Yeah, thankfully," _he commented back sarcastically, peeved by her total disinterest.

Sam stopped in her tracks, allowing this student to catch up to her.

"_I wouldn't want to know skunk-bag like you anyway," _he rudely said, obviously rattled by Sam.

She drooped her arm, allowing the backpack she had draped over her right shoulder to fall to the floor. "_Look!" _Sam said agitatedly before pausing. "_What's your name?" _she asked.

"_Brent," _he shrugged with an attitude.

"_Well, look Brent," _she continued on, "_I'm not interested. You got that?"_

"_Oh please," _he chuckled back condescendingly. "_You think I'm interested in you?"_

Sam rolled her eyes.

"_Trust me, I'm not interested in whatever this is," _he said, looking her up and down in disgust.

"_It sure didn't seem that way when you were desperately tailgating me down the hallway a second ago," _she shot back at him.

"_What did you say?!" _he responded angrily.

Long since removed from her rambunctious days as a rebellious teenager, Sam really didn't want the situation to escalate, but this obnoxious '_Brent' _guy was pushing her buttons and she could only take so much. It didn't help that this was all coming at the end of a long, stressful week of work from her babysitting service. "_Please just leave me alone,"_ she politely requested before picking her backpack up from the floor.

"_Or what?" _he prodded her.

Rolling her eyes again, she went to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist to prevent her from leaving.

"_Don't walk away from me,"_ he demanded.

Little did he know, he had just made a huge mistake.

With her head pointed toward the floor, and her blonde hair falling in front of her eyes, she slowly uttered, "_Let me go," _in a threatening tone.

"_Or what?" _he foolishly prodded her again.

Gritting her teeth, Sam reluctantly regressed into her combative younger self and forcefully broke away from his grip, and pushed him up against the wall with her forearm.

"_Hey! What the heck!" _he projected as Sam fought him off with ease. "_Get off me!" _The point of her elbow dug into his chest, and he winced in discomfort.

"_I'll say this once. I'm not the girl you want to be harassing like this," _she told him. "_Now, I already gave you several chances to leave me alone, but for whatever reason you keep bothering me." _The total '_dude-bro' _swagger this student initially carried had all but vanished as he realized that unwaveringly hitting on an uninterested Sam Puckett would quite possibly be his death sentence. "_I'm gonna give you one more chance just because I'm feeling nice," _she continued, pulling him away from the wall. "_But if you even say one more word to me, I won't be so nice," _she shoved him away and he stumbled over himself trying to regain his footing.

Realizing the irritable blonde was just as tough as she was cute, he quickly cowered off in regret of his decision to ever approach her.

Letting out a sigh, she stressfully ran a hand through her hair, disappointed in herself for allowing things to escalate like that. She worried the altercation might fall back on Freddie, who she was visiting for the weekend, and she technically was his responsibility as a University visitor. Picking her backpack up, she whipped out her PearPhone and texted her boyfriend to let him know what had just transpired.

"_Been here for 10 minutes and I'm already being hit on by college dude-bros. I tried to stay calm, but I may or may not have threatened somebody."_

Sliding her phone back into her pocket, she proceeded on down the hall, in route to Freddie's dorm. It was just after 6' o'clock and Freddie was still in class. Unfortunately, he had gotten the short end of the stick this semester, and ended up with a late Friday night class because registered late; too preoccupied with everything else going on in his life. With his permission, Sam showed up early and waited for him to finish class at his room.

Strolling up to his dorm, she input the code for the door lock that he had texted her earlier that day, and stepped inside. Shutting the door behind her, she flicked on the light switch to illuminate the room. She smirked to herself at how in order the place was, expecting nothing less from the nub. She flung her hoodie onto his bed and dropped her backpack full of clothes, makeup, and whatnot on the floor. It was a little stuffy so she cracked open the window for some air before plopping herself onto his bed, ruffling his well-kept sheets.

With Freddie still in class until 7', she had some time to kill. Whipping out her PearPhone again, she decided to binge some pointless, mind-numbing SplashFace videos for a bit. After about a half-hour or so of that, she sat her phone down on the bed beside herself and starred at the ceiling. As she laid there with her head propped on his pillow, she began examining his dorm some more. While she may have thought it to be nubby, she also admired the well-kept nature of his room. It was no secret that as of late Sam had been trying to mimic Freddie in that regard, and establish similar good habits. She was definitely still a few shades behind him, and chances were, she'd never be that organized herself; but she was okay with that, and so was he. His roommate's side of the dorm was much more disheveled and more so matched what you'd expect the room of a hectic college student to look like. This only served to make Freddie look like even more of a neat freak, and Sam chuckled at the contrast.

His roommate was away for the weekend, and that was actually the impetus for Freddie having Sam over in the first place. He typically didn't have her stay at the dorm out of politeness for his roommate, so he took advantage of this rare circumstance. His usual weekend consisted of driving home and staying at his mother's to facilitate seeing his girlfriend as often as possible. It wasn't the most ideal routine, but they made it work.

As Sam's eyes continued to survey the room, they eventually met with a picture frame on Freddie's desk. It caught her attention and her head slightly lifted from the pillow as she glanced over at it. Sitting up right, she slid her legs off the bed and walked over to the desk for a better look. It was a picture of her and Freddie from when way back when, they must've been sixteen or seventeen. Picking it up for further examination, the cheesiest grin crept on to her face as she adored the picture. She cringed slightly at the incredibly awkward outfit she adorned in the photo, but Freddie was just as cute as she remembered him being; it was no wonder she secretly harbored a crush on him for the longest time. Oh, what the adolescent girl in the picture might say if she could speak to woman holding it right now; Sam pondered it with a smirk.

Peculiarly, there was a small piece of paper folded up and tucked into the lower left corner of the picture frame. Curious, Sam plucked it out and put the frame back on the desk. Sitting down in his chair, she unfolded the paper and inspected it. Upon examination, she found that it was a note, the one she wrote to him over the summer while on their mini-vacation to the beach.

"_He kept this…"_ she quietly said to herself.

Cringing once again, this time at a few of the nubby things she had wrote, she groaned, "_Ughhh," _several times at her own words. Reaching the bottom of the page she noticed there was an extra sentence at the bottom, underneath her writing in leftover space. Freddie had scribbled something himself underneath her note…

'_This is my reason.'_

"_What a dork," _she uttered as she folded the note back up and tucked it back into the picture frame. Nubby-ness aside, there was an undeniable smile on her face, and truthfully, she was happy to find that he had held on to the note.

Plopping back onto his bed she went to mindlessly start scrolling through her phone again, but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the code for the door lock being entered. As she picked her head off the pillow, the door opened and in walked Freddie.

"_Well, it looks like you've made yourself at home," _he joked as he saw that she had all but ruined his neatly kept bed sheets.

Ignoring his joke, she sprung up from the bed and immediately greeted him with a kiss. "_Hey,"_ she draped her arms around his neck.

"_Hey," _he tossed his backpack on the floor next to hers. "_You okay?" _he asked with some concern.

"_Yeah, why?" _she gave him a confused look.

_"Uh, cause you texted me earlier about 'threatening' somebody_," he replied.

"_Oh, yeah..." _she uttered.

"_Everything alright?" _he asked again.

"_Mhm, I'm fine," _she nodded.

"_So, what happened then?" _he questioned her.

She shrugged with a pouty look.

"_C'mon, what happened?" _he asked again, drawing out his words with dramatic effect.

"_I tried not to lose my temper," _Sam replied as she let go of him and sat back on the bed. "_I promise, I tried so hard."_

"_Don't worry, I believe you. What happened though?"_

"_I got in a little scuffle with some guy," _she told him.

_"Define 'little scuffle'," _he threw up air quotes.

_"Some guy tried talking to me on my way here, but I pretty much blew him off," _Sam explained. _"He got really whazzed about it, and next thing I knew I was threatening him."_

Freddie raised his eyebrows as he listened to her explain the scenario.

_"And I may have shoved him around a bit," _she added.

Freddie faintly chuckled as he shook his head.

"_It's not funny," _Sam interjected. "_What if you get in trouble because of me now?"_

"_Did you happen to catch this guy's name?" _Freddie asked in response.

"_His name? Yeah, it was, ummm," _she snapped her fingers several times as she racked her brain for it. "_Brent! He said his name was Brent."_

"_Well that figures," _Freddie replied.

"_What do you mean?"_ she asked.

"_I know exactly who you're talking about, he lives on this floor," _he told her. "_That guy is a total whazz-bag."_

"_Yeah, I noticed," _Sam said sarcastically.

"_Mhm," _Freddie shook his head as he sat beside Sam on the bed. "_He's got a reputation for going from hot to cold really fast when he doesn't get what he wants."_

"_Dude! That's exactly what happened!" _Sam threw her hands up.

"_Not suprising_."

"_He was clearly interested in me, and to be fair he was nice at first," _Sam admitted, "_But I practically ignored him. I wasn't trying to be mean, I just wanted to be left alone. Then he started saying rude things, and I lost my temper."_

"_Don't even worry about it. The dorm advisors know he's a hot-head. It's not gonna come back on me," _Freddie assured her.

"_Good," _Sam said, sighing in relief.

"_Hey, maybe he'll leave people alone now that you scared him,"_ Freddie joked.

"_Maybe," _Sam smirked, and rested her head on his shoulder. _"But I still shouldn't have flew off the handle like I did. I hate that I let myself react that way."_

_"Don't beat yourself up over it," _Freddie replied_. "You rarely ever get to that point anymore. I honestly can't even remember the last time you got into a real altercation with someone. You've come a long way, don't let this bother you."_

Picking her head off his shoulder, she smiled at him._ "Thanks babe."_

Freddie nodded.

_"So, how was class?" _she pivoted the conversation.

"_Long and boring," _he said bluntly.

"_Then please spare me from talking about," _she joked.

"_Sure thing," _Freddie chuckled.

A few brief seconds of silence passed. _"Hey, I found something earlier," _Sam looked at him with grin.

_"You found something?" _he looked back at her confused._ "What does that mean?"_

She stood up from the bed and walked over to his desk. _"Why did you keep this?" _She plucked the note from the picture frame again.

"_Keep what?" _he asked, unable to see what she had picked up as she stood in front of it.

"_This," _she walked back over to the bed and flung into his lap.

_"Oh, the note you wrote me," _he smirked. _"It's cute."_

_"Blehhh,"_ she stuck her tongue out. _"I cringed so hard reading it back to myself earlier."_

Freddie chuckled.

Sitting back down beside him she said, _"I'm glad you kept it though cause I meant it."_

"_I know," _he said.

"_Good," _she grabbed his hand._ "Don't forget it either cause I'm not trying to have be all nubby like that again for at least a few months," _she joked.

_"Oh, so you've met your quota for nubby chiz huh?" _he jokingly responded back.

She chuckled. _"Speaking of nubby,_ _why did you write this at the bottom?" _She pointed to his '_This is my reason' _he scribbled on the note.

_"Pffft, look at you fishing for compliments," _he quipped._ "It doesn't require an explanation. You know why I wrote it."_

"_I don't what you're talking about," _she playfully rolled her eyes. Another few seconds of silence passed before she pipped back up, "_But seriously, tell me. I wanna hear it."_

"_I wrote it because it's a reminder for me."_

"_Of what?" _she pursued.

"_Of why I do this," _he told her.

"_What do you mean?"_

"_School, work, and all the other chiz I just can't stand doing sometimes," _he continued. "_Whenever I get burned out, or feel like I lose sight of things, I read your note. That's my reason. You're my reason."_

She smirked as he explained it to her.

"_See, like I said, just fishing for compliments," _he reiterated.

"_No, no, I swear I'm not," _she insisted as she chuckled. "_You're just such a dork sometimes."_

"_Hey, you wrote the note. Not me," _he said.

"_Yeah, you must be rubbing off on me," _she joked. "_But yeah, I already knew what it meant."_

"_Then why you make me say it?" _he shrugged.

"_I just wanted to hear you tell me," _she deviously said with a smirk.

_"Yeah, and I'm the 'nub-head'," _he jokingly replied.

_"Hey, sometimes I like that stuff."_

He smiled.

_"Sometimes,"_ she reiterated_. "Dork."_

He playfully rolled his eyes.

_"But seriously, that was sweet," _she said._ "After the week I had, I needed that."_

_"Work?" _he asked.

_"Mhm," _she nodded her head._ "Just the worst."_

_"Wanna talk about it?" _he offered_._

_"Nah," _she shook her head._ "I'd rather take my mind off it with something else if you know what I mean," _she nudged his arm flirtatiously.

_"Tubba-Chicken?"_ he joked.

Laughing, she said _"Sometimes, you just get me."_

_"C'mon, I'll drive us," _he led her to the door. _"We're coming back here for dessert though," _he commented as she exited the dorm chuckling.


End file.
